Federal Labor Guidance
Free plain-English summaries of opinion letters, administrative policies, and interpretive notices from the U.S. Department of Labor, with the current status and the official source on every page.
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Industrial trucks in Class I Group C areas
An employer asked which powered trucks could be used in a Class I, Division 2, Group C area. OSHA said its table listed no authorized trucks for that classification and explained conditions for…
Radio pagers as employee alarm systems
A fire protection engineer asked whether radio pagers could meet OSHA’s employee alarm standard. OSHA said the submission lacked enough detail for a compliance determination, but alternative alarms…
Tagout attachment and identification under power rules
A requester asked about tagout devices under OSHA’s electric power and energy control standards. OSHA explained that the attachment, rather than the tag itself, had to meet the cited nonreusable and…
Prescription drugs and restricted work on injury logs
An employer asked how prescription medicine and short work restrictions affected injury logging. OSHA said issuing a prescription counted as medical treatment under its then-current guidance even if…
Retesting and work-related hearing loss logs
An employer asked when a recorded hearing shift could be removed from the OSHA 200 log. OSHA said a substitute audiogram had to occur within 30 days and discussed medical evidence needed to show the…
Mid-Continent health trust as a MEWA outside ERISA plan status
A requester asked whether the Mid-Continent health trust was a multiple employer welfare arrangement under ERISA. EBSA said the described program was a MEWA but was not itself an ERISA welfare plan,…
Mine industry labor-management fund outside ERISA plan status
A coal-industry labor-management fund asked whether its joint process for improving workplace relations and productivity was an ERISA welfare plan. EBSA said that under the proposed amended trust…
FMLA posting duty for a public agency with no eligible staff
WHD considered a public agency with fewer than 50 employees and no employees eligible for FMLA leave. It said public agencies are covered employers regardless of size and must post the FMLA notice…
Classifying sprains and strains on injury logs
An employer asked whether occupational sprains and strains counted as injuries or illnesses. OSHA said instantaneous events produced injuries and noninstantaneous events produced illnesses, while…
Face and eye protection for phlebotomists
An OSHA regional office asked whether phlebotomists needed face and eye protection. OSHA said routine venous blood draws did not reasonably anticipate splashes to the face or eyes, while related…
Vacation unavailable for use during FMLA leave
WHD considered vacation earned in the current year but unusable until the next vacation year. It said an employer could not require that vacation to replace unpaid FMLA leave because it was not yet…
New cumulative trauma cases on injury logs
A shipyard clinic asked how to distinguish a new cumulative trauma disorder from an existing record. OSHA described new exposures and reopened symptoms after a resolved case, along with its…
Employee choice in nonformal complaint processing
OSHA told regional offices to explain that workers could choose the phone-and-fax complaint process or request an inspection. It said a signed formal complaint triggered the inspection process and…
Reverse alarms on track-mounted excavators
A contractor asked whether OSHA’s construction vehicle alarm rule applied to a track-mounted excavator with a rotating housing. OSHA said the cited provision did not cover it, but reversing with an…
Injuries during voluntary emergency-team training
An employer asked whether injuries during voluntary off-site fire training belonged on the injury log. OSHA said the answer depended on whether participation was truly voluntary or would otherwise…
Construction fall rules for waste containers and landfills
A waste-industry association asked whether construction fall protection rules applied to detachable roll-off containers and landfills. OSHA said waste collection and ordinary dumping were not…
Cogeneration plants under electric power standards
An employer asked when its cogeneration facility counted as supplementary emergency or standby equipment under OSHA’s electric power rule. OSHA said the employer could use general-industry…
Asbestos standards for telecommunications work
A union asked which asbestos rule applies to telecommunications employees. OSHA said the construction rule covers removal, alteration, repair, maintenance or renovation of structures with asbestos,…
Roofing fall protection under the revised construction rule
A representative asked OSHA to respond to roofing contractors’ concerns about the revised fall protection standard. OSHA explained the six-foot trigger and the options available for low-slope roofs,…
Reuse of uncontaminated explosives packaging
An explosives industry group asked if clean packaging previously used for explosives had to be burned. OSHA acknowledged the cited burning provisions but said reuse, recycling or other disposal of…
Small business investment companies and ERISA plan assets
The Small Business Administration asked how ERISA plan-asset rules apply to small business investment companies that seek venture capital operating company status. EBSA said a properly structured…
Chronic conditions and FMLA attendance policies
WHD explained why its FMLA serious-health-condition rule covered chronic conditions such as asthma or diabetes even when individual episodes lasted less than three days. It said a provider visit was…
Staffing response to immediately dangerous atmospheres
OSHA clarified how many workers were needed when responders entered an immediately dangerous atmosphere. It discussed the buddy and standby roles under hazardous-waste, respiratory and fire brigade…
Face protection during routine blood draws
An OSHA regional office sought review of citations involving phlebotomists at a blood donation center. OSHA said face and eye splashes were not reasonably anticipated during routine venous blood…
Spill containment mats beneath retail chemical displays
A retailer asked if it could remove spill mats beneath displays of lawn and garden chemicals. OSHA said no federal OSHA rule specifically required those mats and noted the company’s described…
FMLA treatment leave under a drug-testing policy
WHD addressed four drug-testing scenarios under an assumed nondiscriminatory, communicated county policy. It said FMLA leave may cover qualifying substance-abuse treatment, but the Act would not…
Fitness-for-duty certification before FMLA restoration
WHD explained when an employer could delay restoration for a missing fitness-for-duty report after FMLA leave. If the employer gave proper advance notice and the employee provided no report,…
Foot protection and falling-object hazards
A senator asked whether a new OSHA rule required construction workers to wear steel-toed shoes. OSHA said its recent fall protection rule added toeboard requirements in some situations but did not…
Fall protection while working on reinforcing steel
A safety consultant asked OSHA to clarify earlier guidance on fall protection for rebar work. OSHA limited that guidance to rebar in concrete structures, distinguished exposure at the work level…
Final 1995 Wagner-Peyser basic labor exchange allotments
ETA gave states their final program year 1995 allotments for basic labor exchange activities under the Wagner-Peyser Act. It explained how the statutory formula, a 3 percent set-aside for statewide…
Unemployment coverage of AmeriCorps participants
ETA addressed whether states must count AmeriCorps service for unemployment compensation when participants serve state or local governments or certain nonprofits. Relying on the Corporation for…
Average weekly benefits for April–June 1995 disasters
ETA gave state unemployment agencies an average weekly benefit amount for each state and territory to use in calculating Disaster Unemployment Assistance for disasters in April through June 1995. It…
Revenue quality control and Form ETA 581 questions and answers
ETA answered state agencies' questions about the revised Form ETA 581 unemployment tax report and Revenue Quality Control reviews. The Q&A covers which employers count as active, documentation for…
Release procedures for 1994 unemployment benefit quality data
ETA set the 1995 steps for state unemployment agencies to finalize, check, and publicly release calendar-1994 Benefits Quality Control results. It prescribed a database cutoff, report format,…
Retroactive use of military separation reasons for UCX claims
ETA made its list of military separation reasons usable for UCX claims involving separations from October 1, 1993. For separations through December 4, 1994, states were to consider both the new list…
Historical hexavalent chromium exposure limit
A chemicals company asked OSHA to clarify its then-current hexavalent chromium limit. OSHA described a general-industry ceiling value and a construction eight-hour average of 100 micrograms per…
Safety procedures for house foundation excavations
OSHA told regional staff how to assess foundation excavations where property lines or other obstructions prevented ordinary sloping or benching. It listed precautions for spoil piles, nearby loads,…
Testing insulating gloves for telecom workers
A telecommunications employer asked which OSHA rule controlled initial and repeat testing of rubber insulating gloves and blankets. OSHA said the telecommunications-specific provision governed…
Serious health conditions and attendance bonuses
WHD's 1995 letter discussed minor illnesses and said an employee could not lose perfect-attendance bonus eligibility solely for taking bona fide FMLA leave. WHD now expressly marks this letter…
HAZWOPER training curriculum and evaluation
A training provider asked whether OSHA’s HAZWOPER Appendix E was mandatory and how to evaluate, credit and organize training. OSHA said Appendix E remained nonmandatory, other training could count…
Tuberculosis exposure enforcement in health care
A health care adviser asked when OSHA would cite tuberculosis exposure under the general duty clause. OSHA described the factors for a citation and the circumstances in which its enforcement policy…
Asbestos controls during roofing work
A senator asked OSHA to respond to a roofing contractor’s concerns about the revised asbestos standard. OSHA said the rule applied to asbestos-containing roofing materials, referred to a settlement…
Oolitic rock and excavation cave-in protection
A representative asked whether Miami oolitic rock should qualify as stable rock under excavation rules. OSHA declined a blanket exemption because the rock could contain unstable seams and fracture,…
Steri-Strips as medical treatment on injury logs
An employer asked whether a work-related cut closed with Steri-Strips was recordable. OSHA said their use counted as medical treatment under its then-current injury logging criteria. OSHA labels the…
Tuberculosis risk assessment in health care
A hospital asked how to classify TB risk and choose employee skin-test frequency. OSHA described the compliance memorandum it then used and CDC guidance for intermediate-risk facilities, while…
Hazard information for paints and coatings
A requester sought information on health effects of prolonged paint exposure. OSHA said paint formulations vary, provided technical literature abstracts and explained that the hazard communication…
Federal employees union dental fund and MEWA status
A federal employees union asked whether changing its dental fund to cover only federal and specified related workers would affect ERISA status. EBSA said the union was an employee organization, so…
Employer payment for safety shoes and PPE
A union representative asked whether employers had to pay for safety shoes. OSHA said employers paid for required PPE, while payment for personal equipment usable off the job could be negotiated;…
Historical TB skin-test intervals for health workers
An employer asked OSHA to confirm its then-current Mantoux skin-testing policy for health care employees. OSHA described different testing intervals for workers directly exposed to TB patients,…
Roofing fall protection and harness requirements
A senator asked about the effect of OSHA’s revised roofing fall protection rule and a picture showing two harness systems. OSHA explained the six-foot trigger and available protection options, and…
Guarding type 27 portable abrasive wheels
A railroad materials company asked how OSHA defined the outer flange and whether type 27 grinding wheels needed guards. OSHA said the named component exemption did not exempt the wheel itself from…
Pro rata attendance bonus during FMLA leave
WHD reviewed an attendance bonus that paid a proportional share for days worked when an employee missed time for FMLA leave or vacation, while other absences forfeited the bonus. It said the…
Limits of a process safety interpretation after an accident
A safety engineer questioned an earlier OSHA process safety answer after an accident. OSHA said the earlier interpretation was limited by the information then supplied and should not support broader…
Selecting cold-weather hand protection
An employer asked how to select gloves for workers exposed to cold when no consensus test standard seemed available. OSHA pointed to the hand protection rule’s task- and hazard-based criteria and…
Pneumatic portable lights and construction wiring rules
A lighting supplier asked whether a construction wiring provision applied to pneumatic lights with an internal alternator. OSHA agreed it did not apply to the described self-contained 12- or 24-volt units.
Using current-year JTPA funds with prior-year funds
ETA addressed whether current-year JTPA administration funds could support spending of unused training funds from an earlier program year. It said it would accept the more flexible approach across…
Electronic access to material safety data sheets
A requester asked whether a vendor’s claims about OSHA-approved electronic material safety data sheets were accurate. OSHA said it had not approved the product and that electronic access was…
Bent rebar and impalement protection
A contractor asked whether rebar bent horizontally as shown in submitted drawings still posed an impalement hazard. OSHA said the described drawings showed a configuration that would satisfy its…
Tuberculosis enforcement policy in health care
A senator asked whether documents supplied to a physician were new OSHA tuberculosis requirements. OSHA said they were not issued by OSHA, described its then-current enforcement memorandum and said…
Minimum willful-violation penalty for small employers
OSHA instructed regional offices to revise its field manual’s minimum proposed penalty for willful violations and size adjustments, including for employers with 50 or fewer workers. The memo…
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These are official interpretive documents from the U.S. Department of Labor: opinion letters answering questions from employers and workers, administrative policies, and interpretive notices. They show how the agency applies wage-and-hour and workplace law to real situations, but they are guidance, not statutes or court decisions, and the agency can supersede or withdraw them. Every page above shows the document's current status, when that status was last verified, and a link to the official source.